Good to hear! Thanks for the update! Are you getting any grief from others on the board, parents, or townsfolk over the situation?

I know it's been awhile ... but we've been in a mode of 'hurry up and wait'. We finally had our preliminary hearing last Friday and the former treasurer has been bound over for trial on the embezzlement charge. Her attorney didn't pop a single hole in our story/the truth and the judge admonished him on more than a few occasions for the avenues he was going down. It is surely good to see the system work, isn't it?

Same problems here! I got the presidency by default, the previous pres quit "to be more involved with his children", and I was the vice-pres. The treasurer was a 2 year treasurer and a good friend, but was open about a history of being accused of taking $ from the Girl Scouts and a previous employer. We all trused her. A red flag finally came up when she claimed she was too busy to hand over the books to the new treasurer and stated "there really aren't any books". I ended up stalking and threatening her to get the books, and sure enough, the balance was short!
To shorten the story, she never deposted the book fair cash. We were able to get that total from Scholastic. Then we noticed she never made a deposite for 4 months, so there went the monthly movie night profits, about $80-$100 a night for 4 months. She did take the cash home at the end of the night and we all trusted her to deposite it.
She finally confessed when we got the police involved, because she wouldn't answer any phone calls, or letters sent home in her daughter's back pack. Her husband was my new vice-president and didn't help in any way to get the books handed over. He was made aware when the police became involved. I had him removed through a message I left on her phone, saying either she tells him he is done, or I will have to be honest about everything. The principal has been very supportive, but wants to be peaceful. But, I now have a "pit bull" as a treasurer.
The new treasurer is a County Cop and wants her prosecuted. She did make up a payment plan for only the $ we can account for ($1,600 book fair). We received $250 check and it didn't bounce. I has now been 3 months with no payment, so we are back to police involvement.
We now have a great, active group, with cash! But I prefer to not spend PTO $ on lawyers fees! The past treasurer and her husband, the ex-vice pres, did a lot of volunteering and have since "disappeared", but still have a 3rd grade daughter in the school. It was easy to get the word out about what they have done, because the current treasurer listed their check as a deposite for "cash owed by "Smith family". I didn't have to say a thing.
I SO feel your pain. I have lost a friend, and lost A LOT of sleep over this, but hopefully there will be an end in sight. I do hope yours comes to an end soon, with good results. Keep in mind, "revenge through better living". I had a successful fundraiser and we now have a SMART Board in every classroom. Enhancing education is a great goal!

First, there is no legal statute that prohibits a PTO or any other organization from voting off any member on their board for any reason it sees fit. Parliamentary procedure is not a matter of law, it's a matter of process and structure.

Second, no attorney worth his law degree would file suit against a PTO for releasing a suspected embezzler from its board.....a suspected embezzler facing legal charges.

Lastly, have you discussed the harrassment you have been receiving with the prosecutor? Consider asking him/her for orders of protection against the bullies. This will give you legal recourse should they continue their reign of harrassment (and will keep them out of the PTO meetings since you'll be there).

Oh ... one more thing. If I didn't mention it in the earlier post the principal is defending the previous treasurer to the hilt. She has been so very rude and disrespectful to our board that no one even wants to talk to her anymore. To make it more interesting she wanted to run for treasurer. Thankfully she didn't win because those of us on the board in search of the truth were very uncomfortable working with her on the board as we don't trust her. So I cannot ask her for advice on the insurance issue. The superintendent, well, not sure about him. He says he's okay with what's going on but the girl being charged is on the school board as well and he's in a predicament because the press has gotten ahold of the whole story and are having a field day with it because she is on the school board and is accused of embezzling from the school. <<<sigh>>>

Well ... we're still hanging in there! The preliminary hearing is scheduled for 2/20 and I'll be receiving a subpeona to testify. Some days it is still difficult. I'm being harrassed like you wouldn't believe. She only has a few (maybe 4) supporters but they are very vocal. I've received an email telling me how illegal it is to file a false police report and another 'praying' 10-fold upon me and my family for what I've 'done' to the treasurer. We teach our children not to bully yet here I find myself.

Yesterday, to add to the whole thing, the prosecutor told me she received a call from someone in our group wanting to know if it was against any criminal statue that we had voted the treasurer out of office. She told them there was nothing her office could do and that they would have to contact a civil attorney. That's just fabulous because one of the bullies works for an attorney in town. I don't know what to think or expect. Why would a busy attorney get in the middle of something like this? It is a parent-teacher group for goodness' sakes! That said, it was mentioned to me that we might possibly be covered under the school district's insurance as we use the school's 501(c)(3) status, we don't have our own tax ID number. We do have our own checking account but we use their ID number. Does anyone know of resources where I could look into this further. I'd surely sleep a lot better at night! I would think they cannot come after me personally, but I know to them it is personal against me and I'm more than a little concerned at this point. They all come to the meetings and one even told me in email that she'll be there to thwart anything we try to accomplish. This is truly out of control. One good thing is that the prelim is before our next meeting. I don't know if that will calm things down if the matter is bound over for trial or if it will make things worse. I have only three more meetings to oversee as president and was just hoping to make it through ... at this point I am just not even sure. So frustrated. I really just tried to do the right thing and I believe I did but it is surely a difficult situation to be in the middle of. We just got a new treasurer on the checking account yesterday. The other girl will not return our checks or other property she has. I am just 'over it. I'm done ... stick a fork in me!

Thanks for listening ...